When you create a form or application, the following information
helps you design an accessible form for users with disabilities.
IBM® Forms Experience Builder is
designed to make building accessible forms easy. For example, the
tab order of form items is set to start at the first item on the page,
and work through consecutive items. You do not have to reset the tab
order if you must add items to the beginning of a form. There are
several things that you can do to make your forms more accessible
to users with disabilities:
- During the creation of your application, accessibility standards,
such as WCAG 2.0, should be considered with regards
to layout and content. Forms Experience Builder does
not prevent authors from creating non-accessible forms.
- When you add items to your form, give each form item a clear description
or name. Screen readers read the name that is associated with a form
item. You can also use a Text item as a data label instead of the
field provided. For more information, see Using a Text item as a label.
- Add hints to each form item by modifying the Add hint field.
The Hint provides more information when read to the user. For example,
if your form has a Name field, the hint tells
the user your preference for how to enter their given and surnames.
- Text blocks are not automatically part of the tab order. Screen
readers do not put focus on text blocks, and your users might miss
vital information. To ensure that text information is not omitted,
go to and select the check box for Add to tab
order. The text is added to the tab order, and is read
by screen readers.
- If you add images or media items to your forms, open the Properties window
and add descriptive text to the Alternative text property
in the Basic tab. A screen reader uses the
alternative text to describe the image or media item to the user.
- You can add text items to your form and have them associate with other form items. You can use
this technique to create formatted titles for your form items. However, you must link the text item
and the form item together. For example, you have a Select One item on your form. You want its title
to be rich text so it can have a color, background, and format different from the default title. You
add the title with the Text form item, which gives the formatting you want. However, the text item
is not read by the screen reader, and the user might not know what the choice list represents. To
ensure that the Text field is read by a screen reader, go to the choice list
Properties window, and click Advanced. Insert the name of the
Text field into the Accessibility – Alternative label
ID field. A screen reader reads the appropriate text for the choice list.
- When using the new dynamic layout, it might be necessary to group
items into Sections to convey the proper meaning to users. For example,
when creating a custom label via the alternative text ID option.
- When using Sections, if a label exists,
it provides a navigation landmark using WAI-ARIA that is available
to assistive technologies. For more information, WAI_ARIA
roles.